A killer shook his head as he was found guilty of murder after battering a man to death.
Kevin Spaine was today convicted of murdering Learoy Venner at a flat on Belmont Drive in Anfield last summer. The 53-year-old victim suffered injuries likened to those seen in car crash victims after being brutally and repeatedly punched and kicked.
The unanimous verdict was delivered this afternoon, Tuesday, after two hours and 39 minutes of deliberations by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court. Spaine - wearing a blue zip-up jacket and sporting short black hair - was seen shaking his head in the dock as he was found guilty, while a woman could be heard crying in the public gallery.
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A trial previously heard that Mr Venner had been living at the address temporarily at the time of the incident on July 27 2022, sleeping on a camp bed in the lounge. The apartment was "being used as a drug den", with Spaine among its frequent visitors.
But the 43-year-old was refused entry by the victim shortly after midday on the day in question. He was eventually let in by returning tenant Mark Kelly, who then left again in order to top up the electricity meter.
It was at this point that Mr Venner was fatally assaulted, with Spaine leaving him lying unconscious and going to his mum's house to change his clothes afterwards. He was arrested on suspicion of murder on Edge Lane that evening, at which point he responded: "That's a big charge, what do you mean murder?"
Under interview with detectives, Spaine later stated that Mr Venner - from Toxteth - had "taken two swings at him" and he had returned four or five blows "in self-defence". A post-mortem investigation revealed that he had suffered "multiple forceful blows", causing a brain injury - "the sort of trauma usually associated with a car crash or a fall from height".
Spaine, of no fixed address, will return to the court for sentencing tomorrow, Wednesday. Judge Brian Cummings KC thanked the panel of seven men and five women who sat as jurors in the case, saying: "I thank you very much for the close attention you have paid to this serious case."
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